Nepal court in landmark 'goddess' rights ruling

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

KATHMANDU (AFP) — A Nepali tradition of locking a young virgin girl in a palace and worshipping her as a "living goddess" has been dealt a blow with the country's Supreme Court ruling she has the right to go to school.

The court said there was no justification for the specially chosen pre-pubescent girl, known as the Kumari, to be subjected to a practice that dates back centuries.

The current Kumari is nine-year-old Preeti Shakya.

The ruling comes barely three months after Nepali lawmakers abolished the country's 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, who received annual blessings from the Kumari in a ceremony designed to underpin the legitimacy of the royals.

The court's verdict was prompted by a complaint from local lawyers that keeping a young girl cooped...